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The Painting of Sri Thanonchai’s story

Keywords : Wat Srapathum, Wat Pathum Wanaram, The Painting of Sri Thanonchai’s story, The Painting of Sieng Mieng’s story, Wat Pathum

Artwork alternative nameThe Painting of Sieng Mieng’s story
Site common nameWat Pathum Wanaram
Site alternative nameWat Pathum, Wat Sra Pathum
Type of artworkPainting
Sub districtPathum Wan
DistrictKhet Pathum Wan
ProvinceBangkok
RegionCentral
CountryThailand
Geographic Coordinates
Decimal degree
Lat : 13.745912
Long : 100.536659
Geographic Coordinates
UTM
Zone : 47 P
Hemisphere : N
E : 666141.88
N : 1520154.79
Place of artworkThe wall between the windows inside the vihara

History of production

King Rama IV had Wat Pathum Wanaram built at the same time as Sra Pathum in 1853 at the royal field in Bang Kapi canal to be a place for relaxing for the king. The original name of the temple was Wat Pathumwan Wanaram or Wat Sra Pathum. Once the temple was completely built, the King asked the monks from Laos to stay at the temple. He also enshrined Phra Saen and Phra Sai, the Buddha images respectfully engaged from Vientiane since the reign of King Rama III, to be placed at Wat Pathum Wanaram. Later, he devoted this temple to the Queen Debsirindra who passed away in 1861.

Production process

Dust paintings

Art

The Painting of Sri Thanonchai’s story is located between the windows of the vihara of Wat Pathum Wanaram. The painting style and the drawing techniques are the same as the other four paintings in the reign of King Rama IV; The principles of visualization show distance and dimension of images are applied. Some famous architectures of that time are, for example, the painting of the palace that simulated some buildings from the Grand Palace, the painting of the temple that simulated Wat Pathum Wanaram, the painting of people dressed as real people such as soldiers who wore uniform which was influenced from the west, the painting of the villagers dressed in Thai and Laos style, the painting of the nature such as the river with the boat and the sky with clouds.

Key academic information

Inside the vihara, there is a painting that shows the story of Sri Thanonchai which is a fun folk tale. The main character is Sri Thanonchai who is a clever trickster. The story is also known in Laos as “Sieng Mieng”. This painting is consistent with why the temple was built. King Rama IV had Sra Pathum Palace and Wat Sra Pathum or Wat Pathum Wanaram built as a resting area. The storyline of the paintings inside the temple is also relaxed and fun. The people who live around the temple are from Laos so they know and understand the story of this folk tale very well. The scenes appear in the paintings simulate the community around the temple and the villagers. It also describes Sra Pathum Palace and Wat Pathum Wanaram.

PeriodHistorical Period
Art periodRattanakosin
Age25th century B.E.
Religion and beliefFolk tale

Type of LicenseAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)
RightsPrincess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre
Date of record creation2016-09-15
Record creatorPatsaweesiri Premkulanan
Bibliography

โอชนา พูลทองดีวัฒนา. “การศึกษาภาพจิตรกรรมฝาผนังเรื่องศรีธนญชัย ภายในพระวิหารวัดปทุมวนารามราชวรวิหาร”. สารนิพนธ์ศิลปศาสตรบัณฑิต ภาควิชาโบราณคดี คณะโบราณคดี มหาวิทยาลัยศิลปากร, 2543.